Saturday, December 8, 2007

Those waiting for acclaimed Ethiopian chef Marcus Samuelsson (New York's Riingo, Aquavit) to make his Chicago debut will have to wait a little longer.

A call over to Streeterville’s Affinia Chicago Hotel (166 E. Superior St., 312-787-6000), where his Scandinavian-style cuisine will take centerstage at C-House, rewarded 312 Dining Diva with the latest and greatest info. Turns out that the hotel is still renovating and running behind schedule, so the restaurant will not be opening in early 2008, as other media outlets have been reporting.

At this point, they’re looking for C-House to open in late March or possibly sometime in April. Really, who knows, as you know how these things go. As usual, we’ll keep you posted.

There’s absolutely no relation between the two, but Soiree Bar and Bistro (2438 N. Lincoln Ave., 773-477-8880) just opened in Lincoln Park and Soiree Bar and Restaurant recently closed over at 4539 N. Lincoln Ave.

That’s where the similarities end as the former replaces The Gramercy—an overrated Lincoln Park college bar masquerading as a Miami-esque lounge. New owners have replaced the all-white interior with lush colors of crimson and purple hues. And they’ve added a menu of French-American bites, which is targeted toward those who sit in the front section.

It’ll be interesting to see if the young, post-collegiate crowd that frequents this Lincoln Avenue strip warms up to the idea of this pretty sophisticated concept dropped in the middle of frat boy heaven.

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The Dish:

Audarshia Townsend's introduction to the online world began as one of the first two editors at metromix.com--where they set the tone for the entertainment site's cutting-edge style. She also has written lifestyle features for the Chicago Tribune, Essence, Los Angeles Times, Michigan Avenue, about.com, playboy.com, Huffington Post, DiningChicago.com, World's Best Bars and Upscale magazine. Additionally, she has appeared regularly on CLTV, WGN-TV and WCIU-TV's "You & Me This Morning" for cocktail-, dining- and nightlife-related features. In 2007, Audarshia launched 312DiningDiva.com, a daily dining-and-drinking blog keeping readers up to date on Chicago happenings. Her interests include staying fit with a regular Forrest Yoga practice, cycling in the city, and Flywheel Chicago classes.